Schwinn Crewmaster Rowing Machine Review

Schwinn is a brand of Nautilus, the trusted name in fitness machines and known to many for their weight training equipment. So what can they do with rowing machines? Here's my review of their mid-budget model, the Crewmaster.

As with all home fitness equipment you first have the ordeal of unpacking and assembling the thing - not our favorite task. Thankfully, the Schwinn Crewmaster comes in two pieces and requires very little work to put together.

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So onto the comfort and rowing position. The seat is a wide, generic seat that you can find on a number of rowers in this price category. It's perfectly adequate for most, and besides, if you find it uncomfortable due to the size of your butt - either it will shortly become comfortable as you lose weight, or you can buy a gel cushion to fit over it. The seat rolls up and down the rail quietly with a smooth action. Note, the rail (or beam) is around five feet in length which will also suit the taller rower of up to 6' 4".

At the opposite end, the footrests are wide, adjustable and will hold even the largest feet in place. The handle has a good grip and the right diameter to make it easy to hold and prevent slipping which can lead to hand blisters. The handles is attached to the rower with a nylon cord. While I have no reason to doubt that this cord is durable and long-lasting, it does look cheap in my opinion - just me being picky though.

The resistance mechanism is supplied by magnets around a flywheel which means it's much quieter than an air rower - but at a cost of not replicating t he feel of an oar passing through water. While this makes no odds if you want to get fit or lose weight, if you're used to rowing on Concept2 machines in a gym, this will feel different.

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The Crewmaster comes with 10 levels of resistance manually selected using a knob on the central console. The range between 1 and 10 is wide, but note, there are no programs which will automatically change the resistance for you such as an interval training session.

This is a folding rowing machine, but due to the long component housing the resistance mechanism, it's a little awkward to move on it's wheels when folded.

One big plus, the Crewmaster comes with a generous warranty for a mid-priced machine. The frame is guaranteed for ten years, all parts are covered for three, and the labor costs are included for one year. This certainly helps with peace of mind when laying out $500 :0)

The Display/ Monitor
The large LCD display and monitor is both easy to read and use. The screen is also adjustable to a height that suits you. It displays you training time, stroke count, distance, stroke speed, calories, and your recovery heart rate. It's great that it's enabled for a heart rate monitor, but note that a chest strap is not provided, and that there are no preset heart rate programs.

A number of rowers in this price range that come with preset programs (see 'Also Worth a Look' section below) so it's a little disappointing that you get nothing with this model. Preset programs help to aid variety into your training and can set targets to keep you interested.

Summary:
The Schwinn Crewmaster is a well-made rowing machine that should get you fit and last for several years of trouble-free rowing, but... it has nothing that grabs your interest. It's a typical run-of-the-mill, middle budget price machine that will serve you well, but just won't get your pulse racing before you get on it.

Note: This website is an associate of Amazon and a number of other retailers. We earn a commission from sales generated via these links, but this does not influence how we rate the rowing machines we review.

Schwinn Crewmaster: 7.5/ 10 7.5 Stars